alcohol withdrawal seizures

alcohol withdrawal seizures

Convulsions that occur in up to one-third of alcoholics when they abruptly reduce their alcohol intake, the effects of which peak within 24 hours after the most recent alcohol ingestion. The seizures are brief, generalised (partial seizures are not uncommon), tonic-clonic,and without an aura, and they occur in clusters of 1–3 seizures with short postictal periods. While alcohol withdrawal seizures typically resolve spontaneously or respond well to benzodiazepines, in 30–50%, the seizures progress to delirium tremens; status epilepticus occurs in 3% of alcohol withdrawal seizures, mandating a workup for other causes of seizures, as alcoholics are often affected by head injuries, chronic idiopathic epilepsy, and meningitis.

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